


The Way of The World

by LesbianKJ



Series: Scarlet Widow fics [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Ballet, Bisexual Natasha Romanov, Bisexual Pietro Maximoff, Dissociation, F/F, F/M, Gymnastics, High School, Lesbian Wanda Maximoff, Multi, Nightmares, POV Alternating, Summer Olympics (mention)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianKJ/pseuds/LesbianKJ
Summary: Boy wins Summer Olympics for his country, twin sister hopes that it will end war.  Yet war continues, bombs are dropped and people are shot. Nothing changes. Boy's head at gunpoint, a family fleeing the country. A little sister watches as a man swore to protect point the gun at the brother. The nightmare of that eventful day haunts the twin. In America, they wonder if it will all be the same or will they be fighting a different battle altogether.





	1. Ribbons of Red

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank [A_Fangirl_Writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Fangirl_Writes/pseuds/A_Fangirl_Writes) and [Capricious_Wind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capricious_Wind/pseuds/Capricious_Wind) for helping me come up with a summary.

Her fingers curled against the cold metal as she rose slightly from her seat as she became enraptured by the scene in front of her. The pounding of her heart drowned the loud screaming and outside noise, her green eyes solemnly focused on one person. This was it, the thing that they dreamt of since they were kids, the thing that Pietro trained for since the moment they stumbled into The Sokovia Training Center, cold, tired, and hungry and they had been found by gold medal-winning archer Clint Barton.

Wanda rose even further up from her seat, her eyes never leaving Pietro’s figure as he finally took the lead from Steve Rogers. He turned his head slightly to left and say a few words that couldn’t be heard from where she was standing, the blond boy let out a laugh as he pushed himself to catch up with Pietro. The attempt went in vain as Pietro picked up his speed and left all the participants behind. Pietro was alone with Steve, Robert Frank and Joss Shappe following after.

_“It’s a World Record! 1:30:06, Pietro Maximoff from Sokovia!”_

Sound instantly filled Wanda’s ears as she stared on in shock, not fully registering what she heard. Her hand reached out to her left and she grabbed her sister’s bicep, she gave it a strong squeeze as she turned to stare into green eyes. A slow smile emerged on her face as she reached to grab Lorna’s other bicep and shook her.

“He won! _He did it!”_

Under other circumstances, Lorna would have removed Wanda’s hands from her and threaten to cut those hands, if she ever did it again but this times she grabs Wanda in return and they both jump up and down. Wanda looked down at the field to see Clint and his wife, Laura, heading towards Pietro as he was being congratulated by his fellow competitors. One look at her sister and Lorna and her headed towards the entryway to the field.  

Once security was able to confirm that the two were, in fact, Pietro’s sisters, the two ran towards their family. Pietro turned to them as if sensing them and opened his arms wide for them to run into. He pulled them into a tight hug and kissed them both on their heads. Lorna pushed him away with a mock look of anger that caused the twins to laugh.

“We’re on international TV!” Lorna said, punching his arm.

“Sorry, sorry,” He murmured.

“Pietro, if we could have a minute of your time?” A reporter said.

“Yes?” He asked.

He leaned forward slightly to talk better into the microphone, his face serious, a rare thing.

“Towards the end of the run, you said something to Steve,” The reporter started. “What was it?”

A smirk broke out onto Pietro’s face. “I told him ‘on your left.’”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Pietro chuckled. “But I noticed that this is what Steve says this to his running mate, Sam Wilson. Why he says that to him, I do not know.”

“So the comment was a reference to that?”

Pietro nodded. “Yes, I got Steve to get a laugh at it.”

“Thank you for your time, Pietro,”  The reporter said.

Pietro gave a nod and the reporter and camera left them alone. Clint patted Pietro on the back and led the three children off of the track.

“Cooper and Lila are probably so excited right now!” Laura exclaimed.

“They should be,” Lorna said. “Pietro just beat _Captain America._ That man has won the 800 meter three times in a roll!”

“He only won those medals because I was still training,” Pietro said.

Wanda _tsked_ and gently hit him upside his head. “Don’t get cocky.”

Pietro rubbed his head and rolled his eyes but said nothing else on the matter. Wanda knew that he was too caught up with the fact that he won a medal for their home country, for Sokovia, which definitely needed this with its war-stricken streets. She had watched her twin brother train for this day with every moment of his life. Pietro was always up before the sun, running to the center and staying there until Laura had sent either Wanda or Lorna or Clint to go get him so that he could eat, sleep, and go to school. He pushed himself to the limit, often times needing ice for his legs or a day of rest, and had spent many days studying the men he would go up against. He was the youngest competitor in the 800-meter race and less experience in races than he liked to admit but if Wanda hadn’t known that than she would have thought that Pietro had been racing since the day he was born.

Just before they could leave, Steve stopped them by the entrance. For a man in his mid-30s, he still looked incredibly handsome, not that Wanda thought that all men in their mid-30s couldn’t be handsome. . . Steve was just particularly even more handsome than the rest. His All-American smile was absolutely heartbreaking and the tousle of his hair and the growth of a beard made him sexy, not to mention those baby blue eyes. . .

Wanda flushed and looked away from the man. She had thought that she had gotten over her crush for the runner but seeing him up close and personally, showed that she hadn’t. If Pietro or Lorna (god forbid both) figured out that she still had a crush on him, she knew that she would never hear the end of it. The brunette took several steps back from Steve and Pietro and opted to stand beside Laura as the two had their exchange of words.

“You did good kid,” Steve said.

The older man, then,  offered his hand and which Pietro accepted with a firm shake.

“Thanks, you too, Old Man,” Pietro answered.

Steve laughed at this and Pietro’s smirk turned into a big smile. They both released the other hand and with that, the Maximoffs-Bartons left.

* * *

Wanda laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her heart caught in her throat as she waited for the worse. The apartment shook and groaned as bombs were being dropped all around them, the sound was awful and the people’s screams were even worse. She hated that the war resumed the moment people left with the Olympics, breaking the illusion of peace and safety. The week had felt too surreal, too much of a dream and Wanda was foolish to think that a stupid medal would stop it all.

She sighed and pulled herself out of bed, knowing that there was no use in sleeping alone. Wanda walked towards Pietro’s room and carefully pushed open the door so that she didn’t wake anybody. She knew without looking that laying in bed with Pietro was Lorna, Lila, and Cooper, no doubt Lorna during the course of the night had pulled the Barton’s kids close to her chest and Pietro had rolled himself over so that the younger kids could be sandwiched in between them. She took her place behind Pietro and threw an arm over them to create a sense of safety that had been destroyed overnight.

* * *

 

It was moments like this where Wanda forgot the existence of the world. Where she let the music lead her to a calmer place, a place where she didn’t have to constantly worry about another bomb taking away her family or the riots and protests that got too dangerous or that Clint and Laura were seriously contemplating leaving the country. Everything that she fretted over at constantly second of an hour, disappeared the moment she pulled her hair into a bun and slipped on her ballerina flats and leotard.

Ballet and Ice-Skating were in her element like running was for Pietro.

She felt the music in her bones, flowing from her feet to her fingertips, taking a hold of her and calming her nerves. Her eyes fluttered closed and her mind grew blank, and she slowly slipped into her own little world.

 

* * *

They pack in the middle of the night after a too close call with Pietro and the police. Wanda gripped the top of her dresser tightly as she was transported to a couple of hours earlier.

_“Pietro, you ass, you promise me that you would look at my latest invention!” Lorna said, shoving him._

_The older boy opened his mouth to deny it but Wanda beat him to it by shaking her head._

_“She’s right, Pietro, you promised,” Wanda said._

_She stood in between them as they walked to their apartment. Her dark red shawl was draped around her arms, it dragged lightly against the ground. The sun hit their backs and Wanda was glad that she went with her black shorts and a tank top. Lorna was on her left, her lime green shawl on her shoulders and her t-shirt a darker green and she wore black capris. In her hands was styrofoam cup filled with green apple flavored ice and a spoon that used to break the ice even more so that she could eat it._

_Lorna’s head was lowered towards the cup as she was solemnly focused on breaking that ice. . ._

_A policeman that were patrolling the streets of Sokovia wasn’t paying attention either and the man (_ he had dark red hair, short and a stubble of a beard, and his eyes. . . his eyes were dark brown) _ran into Lorna. The girl’s hand jerked away as the cup flew out of her hand and ended up hitting the police in the chest. Lorna looked up and opened her mouth to sass the person before she quickly realized that it was a policeman and she shut it immediately. She went paled as she stared at the strained uniform._

_“You idiotic girl,” The man sneered. “Watch where you’re going.”_

_He, then, pushed Lorna hard enough that she stumbled and fell to the ground. Wanda immediately rushed to her little sister's side as Pietro stepped up towards the officer._

_He was always too protective for his own good._

_Wanda felt her heart drop as she turned her head up and was met with the image of Pietro having a gun pointed at his head. She gripped Lorna’s arm tight as Pietro stood his ground._

_“Pietro, apologize,” Wanda whispered._

_Her voice shook ever so slightly, had gone hoarse at the sight before her._

_“I would listen to her if I was you,” The man said._

_Pietro clenched his jaw._

_“Pietro, please,” Wanda said desperately._

_The man’s finger laid on the trigger and all he had to do was pull it. Her heart pounded loudly as she mentally plead her twin to step down and it let go._

_“Pietro, please, I’m fine,” Lorna said._

_Wanda felt Lorna’s hand on her knee, felt her nails dig into her skin, probably hoping and praying that Pietro would just back_ down.

_“I’m sorry, officer,” Pietro said slowly and loudly for the man to hear._

_The world became still as they waited for the officer’s next move. Wanda almost let out a loud sound of relief as he slowly lowered his gun and placed it back in his holster. A nasty smile grew on his face as he pat Pietro’s face, hard. The hatred in Pietro’s eyes as he glared hard at the officer._

_“Good boy,” The man said._

_He turned to walk away before he changed his mind halfway and turned to spit at Pietro.  The eldest Maximoff tighten his hand into a fist, to calm himself as the officer walked out of sight. Wanda’s vision suddenly went blurry and she felt the wetness on her cheeks to know that she was crying. Lorna’s grip on her knee lessened as she moved that hand to wipe away her older sister’s tears._

_“Come on,” Pietro said, his voice tight and filled with restrained anger. “Let’s go home.”_

“Wanda.”

The brunette blinked once and turned towards the door to see Clint standing on the other side. His face spoke sincere concern as his eyes searched her face. Wanda forced a smile as she slowly let go of the dresser, her fingers hurting from gripping it for too long.

“Are you packed?”

Wanda looked around the room, her thoughts mixed with relief and remorse. Relief that they were finally leaving this country before war took away her family again and remorse because this has been her home for 19 years. Though after today, after seeing her twin, her other half, moments away from getting shot in the head, her remorse wasn’t as strong as it would’ve been without that nightmarish image in her head.

She nodded once and before she looked around her room again. She remembered the first time she came into this room, she had been twelve.

_Clint had turned on the lights of the room and Wanda blinked at the sight of it. The room wasn’t much but for a twelve-year-old who hasn’t seen the inside of house since she was ten years old, it was everything. She turned to Clint, in disbelief, unsure what she was supposed to do. He smiled down at her and got on his knee._

_“This is yours.”_

_“Really?”_

_He nodded and Wanda couldn’t help the smile that emerged on her face._

It was fitting that Clint would be the one to take her out of the room. Or she thought so as she went to her bed and grabbed her two suitcases.She walked toward him and placed her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out.

“Where will we go?” Wanda wasn’t surprised that her voice was hoarse.

“Before Laura and I moved here, we lived in America. I know somebody that will able to get us a house to live in.” Clint told her.

Wanda nodded and bit her lower lip.

“Dad?”

Clint paused and looked down at Wanda. Whatever was on the mind of the nineteen-year-old, it was serious since she rarely called him, Dad. Out of the three Maximoffs, only Lorna called Clint and Laura, Mom and Dad, they were the only parents that she remembered.   

He hummed and squeezed her shoulder, quietly urging her to continue.

“I don’t think I can handle seeing Pietro in that situation again. . .  will this happen in America?”

Clint took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head.

“I can’t promise that this won’t happen again, not in the crazy world that we live in, but I’m sorry that you had to witness it.”

Wanda nodded once and felt the air in throat get caught and an ugly sob escaped her. Clint pulled her into a tight hug that left Wanda’s arms at her side and her head buried deep into his chest.  They stayed like that for a moment or so until Wanda collected herself, wiping away her tears with her arm.

“Is everybody else in the car already?” She asked.

Clint nodded. “Yeah, ready to go?”

Wanda looked around their apartment, one final time and nodded. She, then, followed Clint outside and before getting into the car, she whispered her goodbyes to her home country.

  



	2. Streaks of Blue

His shoulder was uncomfortable with Wanda laying her head on it to take a nap as they flew on the airplane, his hand sweating because she was holding it tightly in her sleep. With the way her eyebrows were knitted together and the way her nose wrinkled up, he knew that she was having a nightmare but because he was close by they weren’t as bad as they would’ve been. 

Pietro wondered if what happened two days ago is, now, also apart of her nightmares. He frowned at that thought and kissed her forehead, and she responded by snuggling even closer to him or as much as she could with the armrest in the way. The older boy hated that he might be the reason why Wanda’s nightmares were worse. He hated it even more that he wouldn’t have done anything differently if given the chance. When it came to his sisters, he would do anything for them.

Nobody and  _ nothing  _ would take them away from him. He would make sure of that.

_ “You can’t do that dead!”  _  Pietro could imagine Wanda hissing at him as she promptly hit his shoulder.

He had always thought that Wanda worried too much. That she came up with unrealistic scenarios that would never happen but after the incident two days ago, Pietro was reconsidering her concern. Before that point, Pietro had been in scuffles and have threatened boys around their age not once had he had to face an adult to protect his sisters, it fell on Laura and Clint, who handled it calmly and cold enough that it sent that adult running the other way. But Clint and Laura hadn’t been there with them and so he naturally stepped up as the protective big brother.

Only to have a gun pointed at his head.

And even though anger coursed through his veins, his heart skipped a couple of beats as he stared down the gun and the man. Fear held him in his place but his anger wanted to so desperately to grab that gun and turn it on the man. For a moment he forgot the world around him, forgot that his sisters were behind him witnessing everything with held breaths and wide eyes. He had always been stubborn and that day it showed, he was willing to lose his life over pride and protecting his sisters.

He had only backed down because of the desperation and fear that was evident in both his sisters’ voices. While Pietro didn’t regret the confrontation, he did feel guilty about scaring his sisters. Once they had made it home, Lorna had rushed into her room and slammed the door and Wanda was so disconnected with the world that it had scared the Barton family, even Laura who always showed the kids a level of calmness so that she didn’t scare them.

_ “Wanda, honey?” Laura said, slowly. _

_ The girl didn’t respond as she stared blankly at the wall before her.  Laura softly touched her face and Wanda barely flinched, she then started to run her hands down her arms and lightly tug on them but the green-eyed girl still didn’t respond. The couple made quick eye contact of concern before Laura rose from her crouching position and headed to the kitchen. On her way there, she asked Pietro to get Wanda into a laying position, for Clint to check on Lorna, and for Cooper and Lila to go into their rooms. _

_ Everybody followed the directions, seeing that how serious Laura, so nobody bothered to argue. Pietro picked up his sister effortless and very gently laid her down horizontally. He stared down at her green eyes that had a distant look at them, not at all registering what was going on in front of her. Guilt hit him with full force as he got on his knees to brush away the hair from his sister’s face. _

_ He did this. _

_ If only he had stood down, had allowed the officer to walk away instead of confronting him.  _

_ Pietro murmured his apologies in Sokovian as Laura came rushing back with a warm, wet cloth and pressed it against his twin’s forehead. _

_ “Wanda?” _

_ Pietro felt his mouth go dry as Wanda continued to stare blankly and quickly turned to Laura, helplessly. The older woman was already setting into work, making sure that Wanda was comfortable and she spoke soothing words to her for twenty minutes before she turned to Pietro. _

_ “What happened?” _

_ Pietro hesitated before he reluctantly told her. She turned incredibly pale and he watched as her eyes grew wide and he once again felt the feel of guilt hit him in the stomach. She, very slowly, rose up from her crouching position and pulled him into a tight hug. _

_ “You foolish boy,” Her voice barely above a whisper. “Don’t you ever do that again! Do you hear me? Never do that again.” _

_ He nodded and hugged her back, and he looked over her shoulder to see that Wanda’s position hadn’t changed. _

_ “Will she be okay?” He asked, his eyes never leaving Wanda. _

_ “She will give her time.” _

Time was three hours later, Pietro being the first to notice the way her fingers twitched and he had hurried to her side. He pulled her into a tight hug and repeated his apologies over and over until Clint had to pull him off of her. Laura helped Wanda get up and fed her and fret over her and not once did the girl complain. She didn’t speak to anyone, eating her food without much enthusiasm, and wouldn’t make eye contact. They gave her space and she was up and running the next day.

She had kept Pietro closer than she usually did but Pietro didn’t mind.

He owed her that much.

* * *

The person that Clint knows is his old coach, Nick Fury. The man was a little intimidating with his eyepatch over his eye and his black clothes and the constant scowl on his face but Pietro would never admit that aloud. Lorna would have a field day with that.

Nick Fury had found a house out in the middle of nowhere with a big yard for Cooper and Lila to play in. The house was huge or huge to the Maximoffs, apparently, there was a lot of Americans that had two-story houses or even three. Everybody had their own rooms which admonish them even further.

Clint and Laura allowed the kids to roam free so that they could get used to what will be their new home. It felt weird to consider it. That they will call this home in the future, that they would soon consider America home to them. Pietro frowned at this.

“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked.

Lorna and the Barton kids were running around, playing tag, Cooper was it. The Twins were watching from up a tree, that Pietro could already tell would be Wanda’s spot. He shrugged and watched Lorna dodged Cooper and bump into Lila, the seven-year-old immediately fell on the ground and Cooper tagged her before running off.

“Hey! No fair!” Lila pouted as she got up and chased after the older kids.

“Get Lorna!” Pietro yelled through cupped hands.

“Oh screw you, Pietro!” Lorna yelled as she dodged Lila’s little hands. “I hope you fall out that tree!”

Wanda let out a laugh as Lorna ended up slide across the grass and landed on her butt hard as she finished her sentence. Lila giggled and tagged the green-haired girl before running off with her brother.

“Instant Karma!” Pietro chuckled.

Lorna flipped him a bird.

* * *

The door creaked and Pietro didn’t have to open his eyes to know that it was Lila that was crawling into his bed. She laid her head on a pillow and stared into his blue eyes.

“My room is too big.”

“It’s fine  _ маленький один _ ,” Pietro said. “You’ll get used to your room, one day.”

She nodded before snuggling into him and she went to sleep. A few moments later, Cooper comes in and without a word lays beside Lila and goes to sleep. Ten minutes after that, Lorna comes in and Pietro lifted up with concern, her face is wet with tears.

“I had a nightmare.” She whispered.

“About  _ мама _ and  _ папочка _ ?” Pietro asked.

Sometimes Lorna could remember that fateful night, could remember Wanda’s hysteric crying and Pietro’s fanatic screams and the smell of death. She could remember feeling suffocated and the weight of the bed and debris crushing. She remembered calling for their parents that would never come.

Pietro and Wanda used to take turns comforting her until they found it better that they comforted her together. Lorna hated talking about it, hated that this was the only memory that she had of their parents while Pietro and Wanda had countless ones.

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body. “I dreamt of you. I dreamt that you got shot.”

Her voice choked at the word and again Pietro was filled with guilt. He offered up Wanda’s spot and Lorna crawled towards it. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him, her chin resting on Pietro’s shoulder, her wet cheek pressed against his neck.

“I’m here,” Pietro whispered.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

_ I promise I will never scare you like that again. _

* * *

“Why do Wanda have to have a swing on this tree?” Pietro huffed.

The white-haired boy was perched on top of the third highest branch, tying the rope around it and putting a secure tight knot.

“Your sister asked for it and we want you to feel comfortable here,” Clint said.

The older man whined up the rope before throwing it over the branch. Pietro carefully walked over to it before he proceeded to tie it tight and secure.

“Wanda has you wrapped around her little finger,” Pietro snorted. “If she asks for it, you won’t hesitate to give it to her.”

Pietro grinned as Clint opened his mouth to deny his claim before he closed it and thought about it for awhile. He admitted defeat with a shrug and decided to test the sturdiness of the swing instead.

“Good to go,” Clint murmured. “Come on, it’s about time for dinner.”

* * *

Pietro is up before anybody else. He throws on a shirt and pants and slides into his socks and shoes and then he’s out the door. Earlier that week, he had explored the property of the house and saw that it was large enough for him to do at least three laps and for it feels like 10 miles.

As Pietro stepped outside and breathed in that early morning air, he thought suddenly that he should convince Laura and Clint to buy him mp3 and earbuds so that he could listen to music as he jogged. He could pace himself to the beat rather than the one his head. Music always made things much better.

 

* * *

Pietro sighed and laid his head on Wanda’s lap, allowed her to run her fingers through his hair as they have movie night with their family. He had wanted to see an action movie, Cooper agreeing with him but Lorna wanted horror and Wanda wanted sci-fi and Lila wanted Disney, and since they couldn’t decide on a movie as a whole Laura chose the corniest, irritating rom-com movie in the world.  So, they suffered together.

Even though Pietro hated the movie, he liked the concept. The concept of being able to sit down and watch a movie without hearing bombs going off and the screaming and the gunshots. To actually being able to enjoy the movie without flinching every two minutes and waiting and praying that the bombs didn’t hit them next. It was peaceful and surprising calming and Pietro could look forward to these times moments.

Maybe, just maybe, moving to America wasn’t all that bad.


End file.
